![]() I found only a couple of moments for me that might not pass the twenty-first century sniff test: One of the characters, Chris, has some sort of unspecified physical disability that impairs movement and speech. There's accusations in a review or two of racism, but on adult read, I'd say that the racism is all internal to the characters, and Raskin does a solid job of showing how things a certain character might say or do regarding someone else's race is about their own knowledge deficits. We pop in and out of most of their heads at some point, which ends up giving the reader more insight than they each have on each other. Interestingly, however, it was probably one of the broadest casts I can remember reading: a black woman who is now a judge, who grew up poor a Greek family, whose skin is 'darker' than the black woman's (an interesting concept for a young white kid!) a Chinese family, one a recent immigrant a couple of economically limited white guys a suburban white family a single white older woman dressmaker. Initially, all the characters have aspects that make them seem flawed, or perhaps somewhat unlikable. Narration is third person, which is solidly done. ![]() An isolating snowstorm ramps up the tension. The tenants discover they have something additional in common when they are called together for the reading of Sam Westing's will. Initially, they are convinced to rent or buy units in the newly constructed Sunset Towers, a small building that has room for a coffee shop, a restaurant and a small office, perfect for further enticing the future tenants. It is a variation on the manor house mystery, with a very disparate group of people brought together physically. The delivery boy was sixty-two years old, and there was no such person as Barney Northrup." Then one day (it happened to be the Fourth of July), a most uncommon-looking delivery boy rode around town slipping letters under the doors of the chosen tenants-to-be. This glittery, glassy apartment house stood alone on the Lake Michigan shore five stories high. Sunset Towers faced east and had no towers. ![]() "The sun sets in the west (just about everyone knows that), but Sunset Towers faced east. Whatever it was, Raskin's story stayed with me for years. It could have been identification with the shin-kicking protagonist, nicknamed 'Turtle.' It could have been the clever signals of winds and atmosphere that run throughout the book. It might have been the cleverness of the mystery or it's absence of gore. But the one mystery that I could still have told you general details about the plot. Well, besides Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew books. The Westing Game is first full-length mystery I remember reading. now i have to go write 250 academic words about it. as a grown up, i liked it very much, but thought the characters could have used a little fleshing out to make them more defined. i would have loved this book like crazy as a kid. i would have to fine tune it so it works better than the one they have on or (because, no, i would not like to see the aviator, thank you). because if i had had one of these when i was little, then it would have told me, "you love peggy parrish and her wordplay-based mysteries and you have seen the movie clue enough times that you can recite the whole thing (still can). and then i will have the perfect book-recommending resource. and i am going to take a little bit of my brain, and a little bit of everyone's brain here on (you'll be asleep, you wont feel a thing) and then i am going to moosh it all together, and put it in the brain of the red panda. This is what i am going to do: i am going to take a red panda, and i am going to learn genetics and i dunno - neuroscience. The New York Times Book ReviewĪ fascinating medley of word games, disguises, multiple aliases, and subterfuges-a demanding but rewarding book. Great fun for those who enjoy illusion, word play, or sleight of hand. Winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book AwardĪ School Library Journal One Hundred Books That Shaped the CenturyĪ supersharp nfoundingly clever, and very funny. They could become millionaires-it all depends on how they play the tricky and dangerous Westing game, a game involving blizzards, burglaries, and bombings! Ellen Raskin has created a remarkable cast of characters in a puzzle-knotted, word-twisting plot filled with humor, intrigue, and suspense. This highly inventive mystery involves sixteen people who are invited to the reading of Samuel W. For over thirty-five years, Ellen Raskin's Newbery Medal-winning The Westing Game has been an enduring favorite.
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